A Guide to Motor Sports

 

Widely acknowledged as the pinnacle race of motor sports, the FIA Formula One World Championship, more commonly known as Formula 1, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

 

The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants' cars must comply. The Formula 1 season consists of a series of races, each known as a Grand Prix, held either on purpose-built circuits or public roads.

 

The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for the drivers and one for the constructors. With speeds of up to 360 km/h, and engines revving up to a formula imposed limit of 18,000 rpm, the Formula 1 race cars are capable of withstanding high gravitational forces when making sharp turns and corners.

 

Jensen Button, a British Formula One driver currently signed to Formula 1 race team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is the reigning Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion. However, he is facing stiff competition from his team mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

 

 

MotoGP is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 (600cc) andMotoGP (800cc).

 

MotoGP motorcycles are purpose-built racing machines that are neither available for purchase by the general public nor can be ridden legally on public roads. This contrasts with the various production categories of racing, such as the Superbike World Championship that feature modified versions of road-going motorcycles available to the public.

 

One of the current stars of MotoGP is Valentino Rossi. The Italian, who is the reigning Riders' Champion, is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name.

 

 

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events.

 

NASCAR is the largest sanctioning body of stock car racing in the United States. The three largest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR are the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. It also oversees NASCAR Local Racing, the Whelen Modified Tour, the Whelen All-American Series, and the NASCAR iRacing.com Series.

 

The "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series" is the sport's highest level of professional competition. It is consequently the most popular and most profitable NASCAR series. The 2009 Sprint Cup season consists of 36 races over 10 months. Writers and fans often use "Cup" to refer to the Sprint Cup series and the ambiguous use of "NASCAR" as a synonym for the Sprint Cup Series is common.

 

One of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history is Jimmie Johnson, a four-time unprecedented NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion who is the 2009 Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press, 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver of the year, as well as being considered as 2000's "Best Driver of the Decade".

 

 

Kart racing, also known as Karting, is a variant of open-wheel motor sports with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits.

 

Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher and more expensive ranks of motorsports such as Formula 1 and NASCAR. KF1 is the top classification of karting and drivers participating in the World KF1 Championship and the European KF1 Championship race in karts going as fast as 140 km/h.

 

Many former Formula 1 World Championship drivers grew up racing karts, most prominent among them Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Many NASCAR drivers also got their start in racing from karts, such as Darrell Waltrip, Lake Speed, Ricky Rudd, Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon.

 

 

Drifting refers to a driving technique and to a motor sport where the driver intentionally over steers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed.

 

A car is drifting when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle prior to the corner apex, and the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn (e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right or vice versa), and the driver is controlling these factors.

 

Drifting has evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete mostly in rear wheel drive cars, and occasionally all wheel drive cars, to earn points from judges based on various factors. At the top levels of competition, the D1 Grand Prix from Japan has pioneered the sport and the Formula Drift Championship has been gaining popularity among drifting fans in the US. Other professional drifting competitions are also held worldwide.